Brockton too tough for Taunton in Tigers’ boys basketball opener

The Tigers ran into a buzzsaw at Brockton High School’s Staff Gymnasium Tuesday night, dropping a 94-58 decision to Brockton.

Dick Roche

The first game of the high school boys basketball season for Taunton coach Charlie Dacey was one that he would like to forget.

The Tigers ran into a buzzsaw at Brockton High School’s Staff Gymnasium Tuesday night, dropping a 94-58 decision to Brockton.

The Boxers (1-1) put the game away early with a nice inside game and once they got a three-point play late in the first quarter from forward Shane Sims for a 25-13 lead, the Tigers were never able to get the deficit back to single digits.

“All the big men played well,” said Boxers coach Bob Boen. “We got a lot of nice layups and got us to the foul line. I liked what I saw from the big guys tonight, both offensively and defensively. We’re going to need that type of play all year and they are capable of bringing it every night.

“We came out very aggressive. That was our trouble against BC High – being very unaggressive (in a 689-61 loss last Tuesday). We didn’t get to loose balls, we didn’t attack the basket.

“Tonight, we did that. We were a whole different team tonight. We certainly showed, for one night, that we learned from the first game. Only time will tell if it was just for one night or that’s the way we’re going to play the rest of the season.”

Along with Sims, Treace Macklin had a big game inside, scoring six of his 13 points in the first half before sitting out most of the second quarter in foul trouble. Jahleel Moise finished with six points and three blocked shots.

“Treace Macklin got us going early inside,” said Boen. “Then, Sayvonn Houston (nine points) got going and he got some baskets down low. I think that was very important tonight, that we got some inside baskets and kind of established if we wanted to, we could pound the ball inside all night.”

“In the first game, we tried to run our offense by shooting 3-pointers all night and never established the inside game.”

The Tigers had no answer in the first half at either ends of the court.

“It was a perfect storm of mistakes for us,” said Dacey. “I thought we would have been more ready to play. The first-game jitters and all that – it’s no excuse. We weren’t intimidated, but at the very least, confused collectively.

“Our defense was atrocious and our offense wasn’t in any shape organized. We made a lot of errors and Brockton took advantage of them. You make mistakes against them and you pay.”

The one player on Taunton who Brockton had no answer for was Chris Green, who finished with a game-high 23 points.

“We knew he was going to get his points,” said Boen. “Last year, he had 20 points in the games against us. He’s that good of a player. You know he’s going to get his points, no matter what.”

The Boxers, who took a 64-45 lead into the fourth quarter, saw their bench score 30 points in eight minutes to run away with the final score. Leading the way was freshman Jonathan Joseph, scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the final six minutes.

“The bench was on fire,” said Boen, “When Jonathan gets into a zone like that, he’s tough to stop.”

The other Tigers’ player in double figures was point guard Darcyle Robinson, who finished with 13 points and six assists.

The Boxers dominated the boards throughout, holding a 45-20 advantage for the game.

“Size is an issue for us, but you’ve still got to block out,” said Dacey.” We did a terrible job of blocking out – maybe three or four times in the game we did it.

“With a team our size, we have to be committed to doing that. When we don’t, things get out of control like they did tonight.

“We’re going to have to learn we’re not going to grow 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6 overnight. We have to do the basic fundamental things.

“I don’t know if we scored an easy hoop all night long. Our offense was non-existent and our defense wasn’t much better. Hopefully, this is a lesson learned.”

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